Henkel and Siegwerk create oxygen barrier coating from monomaterial plastic to streamline recyclability

02 Nov 2022 --- Henkel and Siegwerk have developed an oxygen barrier coating for food packaging made from flexible monomaterial plastic for streamlined recyclability.

According to the companies, the monomaterial flexible packaging enables “industrially validated oxygen barrier coating” without compromising shelf life. 

“The product enables increased recyclability and therefore circularity. This has a positive environmental impact as it keeps materials in the cycle and limits leakage into the environment,” Lothar Schaeffeler, director of technology at Siegwerk tells PackagingInsights. 

Henkel holds leading positions with its three business units in both industrial and consumer businesses. Meanwhile, Siegwerk is an international manufacturer of printing inks and individual solutions for packaging, labels and catalogs.

Food barrier coating
Not using mixed materials simplifies the sorting and recycling processes. The companies chose to use a single material in their package to keep mixed-material packaging out of recycling streams. 

Monomaterial, named a top trend for packaging in 2022, gets more attention from Henkel.The companies state their coating is compatible with recycling, which has been recognized by the leading institute Association of Plastics Recyclers Critical Guidance. 

“The goal was to create a solution enabling a shift from non-recyclable plastic packaging to recyclable plastic packaging,” continues Schaeffeler. 

However, “a major challenge was to formulate a barrier coating that could be applied at commercial speeds. We had to rethink the whole application process in order to overcome this.”

The coating was showcased at K-Fair in Düsseldorf and Pack Expo in Chicago. It is currently being prepared to launch in North America and Europe and it is set to launch in other regions throughout 2023.

Monomaterial trend
The use of monomaterials – “Monomaterial Mastery” – was recognized as one of Innova Market Insights’ top packaging trends for 2022.

“It could help to move flexible packaging to more sustainable packaging solutions. It enables brand owners and converters to move to mono-plastic structures,” says Schaeffeler regarding the product’s influence in the monmaterial sphere. 

A similar product was developed in March of this year by the Hubergroup. The company developed a print solution – HYDRO-LAC GA Oxygen Barrier – that protects food from oxygen and uses monomaterial packaging that is easier to recycle, parallel to Henkel and Siegwerk’s coating. 

Recently, Borealis and the Vibac Group announced the development of a new and more environmentally sustainable monomaterial BOPP film for food applications. Henkel and Siegwerk began their partnership to create improved recyclable oxygen barrier coating after meeting at the K-Fair in 2019. 

Mondi also explored a monomaterial PP film to wrap bacon, while Coveris’ showcased a monomaterial lidding film for dairy products, adding to the monomaterial F&B packaging trend. 

Henkel’s sustainability focus 
Last month, Henkel partnered with Saperactec and Wentus to create a fully circular flexible detergent package from mono-PE. In the same market, Henkel developed PET bottles within the Laundry and Home Care in Europe made of 100% recycled plastics.

Henkel has also launched a refill system, “Refill Bar,” for its beauty cosmetics line, Authentic Beauty Concept brand. 

Schaeffeler concludes that the oxygen barrier coating is not done and is still in development for future innovations. “We are currently testing the product to further assess its potential as a deinking and delamination primer, which would go a step further in enabling recyclability.” 

By Sabine Waldeck